URC, Round Four - Teams and Predictions

FRIDAY PREVIEW: The Bulls will be eager to return to winning ways when they face Connacht in Round Four of the United Rugby Championship on Friday night.

The match takes place in Galway – one of the competition’s toughest away venues – where the Pretoria side suffered a heavy 7-34 defeat on their first visit back in October 2021.

However, the Bulls will draw confidence from their most recent trip, when they secured a 28-14 victory over Connacht last season.

Their hosts have been strong at home, losing only once in their last four URC fixtures at Dexcom Stadium – a Round 17 defeat to Edinburgh – but have struggled against South African opposition in recent times, winning just one of their last seven encounters (a 36-30 win over the Sharks in September 2024).

Following last weekend’s 7-28 loss to Ulster in Belfast, head coach Johan Ackermann admitted the team is still hurting.

“It was a frustrating review,” Ackermann said.

“We all saw the opportunities we missed in the first half. Looking back at the tries they scored, they came from our own mistakes – a misplaced kick, a dropped ball, or a loose pass. They didn’t really have to work for those points, and that’s what cost us.”

Ackermann added that his side needs to improve their composure when the momentum shifts during matches.

“Any game will have momentum swings. You rarely get 80 minutes where everything goes your way. It’s how you deal with those moments that matters, and we must learn not to make back-to-back mistakes.”

The Bulls boss also acknowledged that his side remains a work in progress.

“We haven’t found a settled combination yet for various reasons,” he explained.

“The coaching staff and I are still learning about each other and how we work together. Transformation takes time.”

Ackermann has made wholesale changes to his side, wielding the axe and making 11 changes after the defeat in Belfast.

Reinhardt Ludwig takes over the captaincy, while Currie Cup skipper Nama Xaba has been drafted into the starting XV as cover for injured Springbok Marco van Staden, who picked up a knee knock.

“There are a few injury-forced changes,” Ackermann confirmed.

“Marco wasn’t ready for this Friday and has already returned to South Africa. Nama has really earned his opportunity – he had a strong Currie Cup campaign and has impressed every time he’s come on.”

The Bulls will be desperate to put the disappointment of Belfast behind them and rediscover their rhythm as they continue their push for URC consistency.

Friday’s other matches see Edinburgh host Benetton and Dragons face Cardiff.

Edinburgh suffered a narrow 19-20 defeat to Munster last weekend and will be determined to overcome the Italians, who will be flying high after their 41-15 win over the Lions.

“Benetton can’t be underestimated with the squad they have,” Edinburgh coach Sean Everitt said.

“They’ve got plenty of Italian internationals playing for them, and they’ve got overseas internationals as well, so they’re a really good team.”

See below for Friday’s teams and Predictions!

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17:

Edinburgh v Benetton
(Hive Stadium, Edinburgh – Kick-off: 19.45; 18.45 GMT; 20.45 CEST)

Prediction

Rugby365: Edinburgh by five points.

Teams: 

Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Cammy Scott, 9 Charlie Shiel, 8 Magnus Bradbury (captain), 7 Dylan Richardson, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Sam Skinner, 3 D’arcy Rae, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Paddy Harrison, 17 James Whitcombe, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Glen Young, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Ross Thompson, 23 Ross McCann

Benetton: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Rhyno Smith, 13 Filippo Drago, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Louis Werchon, 8 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 7 John Bryant, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Eli Snyman (captain), 4 Giulio Marini, 3 Giosué Zilocchi, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Mirco Spagnolo
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Leonardo Marin

Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wales)
Assistant referees: Jonny MacKenzie (Scotland), Finlay Brown (Scotland)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)

Connacht v Bulls
(Dexcom Stadium, Galway – Kick-off: 19.45; 20.45 SAST; 18.45 GMT)

Prediction

Rugby365: Bulls by seven points.

Teams: 

Connacht: 15 Mack Hansen, 14 Chay Mullins, 13 Byron Ralson, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Caolin Blade, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Cian Prendergast (captain), 6 Josh Murphy, 5 David O’Connor, 4 Darragh Murray, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Jordan Duggan, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Joe Joyce, 20 Seán O’Brien, 21 Matthew Devine, 22 Sean Naughton, 23 Cathal Forde

Bulls: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 David Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Sebastian de Klerk, 10 Keagan Johannes, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Jeandre Rudolph, 7 JJ Theron, 6 Nama Xaba, 5 Reinhardt Ludwig (captain), 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 1 Alulutho Tshakweni
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Harold Vorster, 23 Stravino Jacobs

Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Cole (Ireland), Jack MacNeice (Ireland)
TMO: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)

Dragons v Cardiff
(Rodney Parade, Newport – Kick-off: 19.45; 18.45 GMT)

Prediction

Rugby365: Cardiff by 20 points.

Teams: 

Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien (c0-captain), 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Aneurin Owen, 12 Harri Ackerman, 11 Fine Inisi, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Harry Beddall, 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 5 Ben Carter (co-captain), 4 Seb Davies, 3 Robert Hunt, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Oli Burrows, 17 Rodrigo Martinez, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 Ryan Woodman, 21 Niall Armstrong, 22 Cai Evans, 23 Huw Anderson

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Jacob Beetham, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Tom Bowen, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Alex Mann, 5 George Nott, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher(captain), 1 Corey Domachowski
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Alun Lawrence, 21 Taine Basham, 22 Johan Mulder, 23 Ioan Lloyd

Referee: Federico Vedovelli (Italy)
Assistant referees: Craig Evans (Wales); Adam Jones (Wales)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)